This project engages students in the science and engineering processes used by NASA Astrobiologists as they explore our Solar System and try to answer the compelling question, "Are we Alone?" Students will identify science mission goals and select...(View More) an astrobiologically significant target of interest: Mars, Europa, Enceladus or Titan. Students will then design their mission to this target in search of their chosen biosignature(s). Students will encounter the same considerations and challenges facing NASA scientists and engineers as they search for life in our Solar System. Students will need to balance the return of their science data with engineering limitations such as power, mass and budget. Risk factors play a role and will add to the excitement in this interactive science and engineering activity. Astrobiobound! will help students see how science and systems engineering are integrated to achieve a focused scientific goal. Includes an alignment document for NGSS and Common Core State Standards.(View Less)

This is an activity about planning a planetary mission. Learners will play a card game to design a mission to Mars. This game will allow them to experience the fundamentals of the engineering design process as they use collaboration and...(View More) problem-solving skills to develop a mission that meets constraints (budget, mass, power) and criteria (significant science return). This activity can introduce many activities in technology education, including robotics and rocketry. The lesson models scientific inquiry using the 5E instructional model and includes teacher notes, vocabulary, student journal and reading.(View Less)

This activity is about planetary rovers. Learners will simulate the challenges in communications that engineers face when driving a rover on Mars. They will particpate as part of a rover team to design and execute a series of commands that will...(View More) guide a rover made of people through an obstacle course simulating the Martian surface. Students will learn the limitations of operating a planetary rover and problem solving solutions by using this simulation. The lesson models the engineering design process using the 5E instructional model and includes teacher notes, vocabulary, student journal and reading.(View Less)

This is an activity about spacecraft design. Teams of learners will model how scientists and engineers design and build spacecraft to collect, store, and transmit data to earth. Teams will design a system to store and transmit topographic data of...(View More) the Moon and then analyze that data and compare it to data collected by the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter .(View Less)

Learners will construct a mock-up of planetary surface rover. They begin by exploring the importance of engineering in our society and work as a team to build a prototype of the team’s rover using student science notebooks and team sketches as a...(View More) guide. The lesson uses the 5E instructional model and includes: TEKS Details (Texas Standards alignment), Essential Question, Science Notebook, Vocabulary Definitions for Students, Vocabulary Definitions for Teachers, three Vocabulary Cards, and a Mini-Lesson. This is lesson 13 of the Mars Rover Celebration Unit, a six week long curriculum.(View Less)

The 9-session NASA Family Science Night program invites middle school children and their families to discover the wide variety of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics being performed at NASA and in everyday life. Family Science Night...(View More) programs explore various themes on the Sun, the Moon, the Stars, and the Universe through fun, hands-on activities, including at-home experiments. Information about Family Science Night implementation and support resources, including the facilitator's guide, are available by registering on the Family Science Night Facilitators website (see Related & Supplemental Resources for link).(View Less)

In this lesson, learners will discover how certain snakes (pit-vipers) can find prey using a natural infrared sensor and will extend their understandings by exploring infrared technology applications. The lesson features background information for...(View More) the teacher, pre-requisite skills and knowledge for the student, a mini-exploration of infrared image technology, multiple image sets, assessment information, student worksheets, extension and transfer activities, and additional resources. This is lesson 2 on the Infrared Zoo website.(View Less)

This is a set of lessons about the Moon. Learners will focus on answering the essential question: What are the challenges engineers and scientists are working to solve as NASA prepares to send humans to live and work on the Moon for extended periods...(View More) of time? In order to understand the challenges NASA faces in returning humans to the Moon, and how these challenges can be overcome, learner groups will brainstorm the challenges of going back to the Moon. They will read what the experts have to say about these challenges, discuss their value and relevancy, debate the importance of the challenges, debrief as a class, and identify the most difficult challenges for returning humans to the Moon to live and work for extended periods of time. They will use skills in reading, interpretation, communication, and processing to interpret information, make inferences, and draw conclusions.(View Less)

This lesson is about the assembly of the Genesis collector arrays. Learners will work in teams to complete the assembly of the array frame that they began in the "Working Together" lesson (lesson 9 in the module). Includes a teacher's guide and...(View More) students handouts. This lesson is 10 of 10 from the module, titled Dynamic Design: The Cleanroom.(View Less)